Cycliq camera/light - garbage
 

I'm a little furious since I purchased the new Fly CE12 front camera. It does not capture any video. I also purchased the Fly 6, and that too doesn't like to capture video. For the 12, I've contacted support but the best they can do is auto respond and send a manual link which I've read front to back. It leaves things out like, keep the unit on when you plug it into a computer.so I tried turning it on and plugging it in. Sure enough the SD card can now be seen. The only video captured was of me turning the thing on and plugging it in. Where's the ride footage? When I plug the SD card into my reader, the card doesn't show up. OK great, so where's the footage. As a light it's bright. That's not why I bought it though. Sorry for the rant. Does anyone have any issues with these things? Their customer support is terrible.

I’m seriously considering getting a set of these and all the early reviews I’ve read didn’t seem to have any issues using them. Since they are basically new and just starting to send out early shipments could you send your’s back for a replacement from where ever you got it from?

Haven't seen the Fly 12 in use yet, but quite a few Fly 6 units are in regular use on our club rides and I've only heard positive comments so far.

Older generation Fly12 here works just like the manual says it does.


You might have got a lemon; can you return it for replacement or refund?

I haven't received my Fly6 CE yet, should ship Friday, but I've been riding with my 12 CE since a few days before Christmas and have had no issues with recording.

I had the original Fly12 and the 2nd version of the Fly6 and absolutely love the smaller size of the 12 CE and the 1/4 turn mount. ANT+ connectivity is a nice plus as well. Video quality is much improved from the original 12 and image stabilization works well. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.

The only thing I wish it still had is ability to transfer video wirelessly or view recorded video on a phone. While I never had to use it myself, I could see that being very beneficial in situations if law enforcement needs to see it.

Did you order direct from Cycliq? I see some Fly6 HD offerings on amazon but I’m not sure if those are another name for Fly6CE or if those are the slightly older version.

I’ll have to look into the review function because I can see like you where that might be a nice roadside option via a smartphone for a number of reasons.

Yes, ordered directly from Cycliq the week that they initially went on sale. I just received the DHL shipping notification today, and it is shipping direct from China. Given this, I'd be surprised if any retailers that aren't partnered directly with Cycliq for the initial release actually have any, and I'll bet that what you're seeing on Amazon are either Fly6 or Fly6v's.

If they're red, they're the old one, and while technically they are HD, they are only 720P, not 1080 like the CE is. The CE is in an all black case now, it's a little slimmer, and it has a 1/4 turn mount similar to Garmin's instead of being directly mounted via rubber bands (Fly6) or Velcro (Fly6v).

The review function on the original 12 definitely needed work, and wasn't present at all on the 6. The old 12 has built in WiFi that you had to connect to from your phone and transfer was slow. It was definitely more of an "if you need it" feature as it was easier and quicker to remove the card and put it in a computer or phone. Actually, it was probably easier to remove the whole camera and plug it in to a computer, and that required a hex key. With the new 12 CE, getting to the charging port (USB-C) is easier, getting to the memory card is easier, and taking the camera completely off the bike is easier. So far I'm completely happy with it despite not having the ability to review footage without a computer (or phone that can take MicroSD cards [sadly not Apple]).

I fully expect that I'm going to be just as satisfied with the new 6 CE when it comes in.

DC Rainmaker did a full hands-on review of both with some pre-production units... might be worth a read. Can find it here.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/11/...irst-look.html

Thank you. I did see the dcrainmaker review some time ago and will have to look at it again because he sometimes adds updates for changes to products between pre-production units and fully released items.

Not sure what the issue might be with chainlink’s devices above, hopefully he gets it corrected to his satisfaction.

Thank you all for responding. After my initial post here, I tried it again but strangely it would only record when it was tilted. I took a cell phone video of me turning the unit on and plugging it in - that’s when I realized it would only record in tilt mode. I sent the cell phone video to them. They finally responded and suggested I try a hard reset and wipe the sd card too. Will try that tomorrow and post back.

Good luck!!!

I have the fly 6 and it works perfect .... it also has a long battery life (6hrs+)

I reset the unit and used my cell phone to record the entire process of resetting, turning the unit on, plugging it in and having it appear on the desktop. Sent them the entire cell phone video.

The fly12 will only record when tilted. I’m waiting for support to respond.

Finally working
 

After a week’s worth of going back and forth with support, the only way I could get the unit to work was by formatting the card using the cycliq phone app and NOT my Mac computer. I had followed the steps for formatting the card with my computer for the Fly 6 and that worked so why it doesn’t work for the Fly12 is beyond me.
Bizarre.

That is kinda odd. The cards I used were either out of my old 12 & 6 or brand new out of the box as I found a good deal on some 128G cards. I received by 6 CE a few days ago, and I've been fairly happy with it. I have had some issues with connectivity to my phone with the 6 CE. Seems to have issues with losing connectivity when updating settings. The Cycliq desktop app works like a champ on my Mac though, so I just left it at that. Recording quality is great with EIS on, going to do a ride with it off to see which I like better.

I have the previous version, Fly6(v), and have had no issues. I like the 6+ hours of usage between charging the battery.

I bought a FLY6 back in the winter of 2015/16. I was very, very happy with it all that summer that followed. It worked perfectly. Motorized vehicles seemed to give me more elbow room with the bright flashing red lite and knowing I had a video record of every vehicle passing me from behind felt good. However, at the end of the summer when I was no longer going out on the road I put the unit away and forgot to give it a charge every once in a while. So, it completely discharged. Sometime that winter it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to give the unit a charge. Plugged it in BUT IT WOULD NO LONGER TAKE A CHARGE! I contacted their customer service and over the course of a couple of weeks we went thru a bunch of emails and several different procedures to try and resurrect the unit without success. IT WAS KAPUT! I was just outside the 1 year warranty but I was hoping they would at least sell me a new unit at a nice discount. No such luck. They pleaded poverty and said they could not afford to do that. They would not take a cent off a replacement. There was nothing in the written instructions that warned that the unit needed to be kept from a discharged condition. So, unless they have changed something, I strongly recommend that you make sure you do not let your unit get into a deep discharged state. 'Cause if you do... kaput!

Keep on Pedalin'

My exposure to the Cycliq has been limited to the one that belongs to a friend. He had trouble with his and opened it up to try to fix it. He ended up breaking a wire and came to me to have it resoldered.

It was interesting to get a look inside of it! There's a lot of stuff going on inside of it. Plenty of very tiny parts, a few BGA packages (which can have soldering issues), and a somewhat big camera module on the board (which might contribute to board flex and subsequent solder joint failures).

One lesson was that the battery looked like a conventional size (an 18650 lithium, I think).
note to [MENTION=466722]Orlando[/MENTION] : Shouldn't be that hard to replace, assuming some soldering skills.
Although... the fact that there are three wires coming from the battery might mean that there is some protection circuitry as part of the battery. If the light is already considered to be dead, then there's not much to be lost by trying to replace the battery.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4620/3...505888_c_d.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4648/3...d53dc7_c_d.jpg

Here's a few more photos of the inside of the light, just for fun...

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4615/2...9b1743_c_d.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4630/4...c1d4ce_c_d.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4756/2...39334e_c_d.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4750/3...cb1c9b_b_d.jpg

by the way, you'll note that there is some red plastic around some of the screws. This was the result of damage when my friend opened the light. I don't recall if there was a less destructive way of getting it open.

Steve in Peoria

I just went and looked at my original Fly6, and you can get to the screws on the back. I didn't look to see if they were specialty screws, or torx, or something like that, but you can get to them. So there is a less destructive way. I also held up one of the 18650 batteries I use for my flashlight/headlight, and I'm assuming that's what's inside. You can buy them with the protection circuit built in, I have Tenergy ones from Fry's with them, so should be replaceable if need be and out of warranty.

Thanks for posting the photos, it was interesting to get a look inside.

found this via a bit of your local search engine.


But i totally agree cycliq are useless! I bought mine from chain reaction (20% cheaper than direct) and they worked great at first then a couple months down the line the rapid battery drains starred happening. Long story short: over 29 emails with their support to finally get a replacement then they send me older units that had the same problem I had been reporting but claim a firmware update would fix the problem even though it didnt on my newer units.

But again these new (older) units again worked worked okay at first but then a couple months down the line the weather takes a turn again in England and both units start to act up again, same problems as before

Go through all the same rigmarole with their support more than 29 emails this time they now claim its the SD cards Im using and point me to an old forum post that only has two people not associated with the SD card company and the guy with the problem basically says he corrupt his own card. Now I'm currently holding my fly6 that will not update to the latest firmware using their ever (not) so simple app and its just beeps to signal less than 25% battery even though I can still connect to it via BT and it just always remains on 60% the two buttons dont work on it so i cant power it off to stop the beeping and even when trying to do any factory reset fails.

My Fly12 on the other hand had similar issues but this morning decided to stop wanting to record, I can turn it on and change the light but it would not record even checking it when i got home no new recordings which is great because I had two idiots drivers near misses today neither of them captured. Yet cycliq support still remain adamant that my safety is their biggest concern.


On a plus note they have offered to replace my units again with their newer models but I've lost all faith in them and they can't give me a guarantee that the same fault is fixed and they refuse to give me a refund on the camera's and the extra money I spent buying their recommended SD cards after they claimed mine we're the fault which still work perfectly fine on any other device and are formatted to the official SD association standards.



Honestly I'd recommend everyone stay well clear of cycliq from my continued terrible experiences their support team are not helpful and just want to pass blame onto the user, I've spent months proving them wrong and jumping through all their loops for them to still remain adamant that their devices are fine and not faulty. both of mine are better door stops!

Luck of the draw, I guess. Two years later and mine are still working fine.

I'm not so sure all the bad reviews I've seen without digging and then my bad units and the bad replacements

FYI-Not good BF form to keep repeating the same lengthy post in multiple threads, I think they consider it spamming.:twitchy:

I agree, and the harping feels like someone has an axe to grind. I've been very happy with my older-model Fly6. Every year or so it gets glitchy and I reformat the memory card and then it's fine--pretty much like every electronic device I've ever owned except more reliable. My strap disintegrated a few months ago 3 years after buying. I emailed them and they sent me a new one even though it was way out of warranty. Commuting into work in SF I see quite a few Cycliq Fly6 and Fly 12s--I'll comment to the riders and they're almost universally happy.

I have the latest model FLY6 CE second generation. I've only had it a couple of weeks, but so far it works as advertised.

yeah i know but the first one i posted in seamed dead and was older which i didn't realise at the time hence the copy and paste. I don't have an axe to grind I'm just sharing my honest experience with cycliq.

(2nd reply)
also of you have to reformat every couple of months like they recommend then clearly theres t problem, you don't have to reformat any computer HDD every couple month and I've never needed to reformat any of the same branded SD cards they claim are the problem on any of my micro computers or other IoT projects so clearly if you're having to do that with moat of your gear then theres a problem with it

also my daily commute its its about 15min each way and my camera's sometimes won't event last that or till the end of the day, its not just been with one unit and they claim they sent out brand new units which turned out to be older models than the ones I bought which is probably why my second units are also failing in such a short period.